-World Heart Day: Cardiac Ailments in the younger generation on a rise-

New Delhi : Dr. T S Kler, Chairman, Fortis Heart & Vascular Institute, Fortis Memorial Research Institute and his team of experts including Dr Avinash Verma, Senior Consultant, Electrophysiology recently performed a complex surgery on a 17-year-old girl from Sikkim and gifted her a new life. Due to nationwide lockdown and travel restrictions, the patient was unable to travel to Delhi for her treatment which further deteriorated her heart health. The patient was first presented at a camp organised by Fortis Gurugram in Sikkim and after initial investigations in her hometown, it was found that she is suffering from a rare kind of arrythmia, called Junctional Tachycardia, which is very uncommon in youngsters at her age. For immediate treatment, the team of doctors led by Dr TS Kler decided to fly the patient to Gurugram.

Before COVID-19, the functionality of her heart was extremely poor, as the Ejection Fraction (a measurement of the percentage of blood leaving the heart each time it contracts) was only 30%. She had to be admitted in the local hospitals every few days leading to no personal life and forcing her to leave schooling in between. The pandemic and limited health infrastructure further led to a delay in her treatment.  As the case was very complex, a team of experts at Fortis Gurugram conducted 3-dimensional mapping with the help of new system Carto version 7 to precisely map the source of arrythmia. Upon thorough investigation, it was found that the arrythmia was coming from the conduction system i.e. body’s own natural wiring.

Speaking about the complex surgery, Dr. T S Kler, Chairman, Fortis Heart & Vascular Institute, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, said, “This case was a real challenge for us because, life threatening Arrythmias are pretty uncommon at the age of 17. Many times, in small centres, these kinds of Arrythmias don’t get noticed and eventually the condition becomes fatal. In this case, there was risk that even if we successfully ablate Tachycardia, she might face some dependency for the rest of her life. And if we try to get rid of the source of the arrythmia, then we might damage body’s own natural wiring and she will require a pacemaker. Looking at this situation, we refined our mapping technique and mapped the exact source and ablated the arrythmia in the body’s own conduction system. We were very successful in not damaging body’s own conduction system and save the pacemaker as well”.

Dr Avinash Verma, Senior Consultant, Electrophysiology Fortis Memorial Research Institute, further added, “The patient showed positive sign of recovery soon after the operation and her ejection fraction from 30% and went back to 55%. No one can say that she ever had a heart problem. Timely medical interventions and technology available at FMRI has played a pivotal role in saving life of this young girl. The delay in the treatment that happened due to lockdown, deteriorated patient’s health. We all have seen how delay in treatment amidst the pandemic has significantly increased the burden on NCDs in India. We also need to understand that cardiac ailments in young adults have substantially increased, and it is a sign of worry for all of us. On This World Heart Day, I want to urge people to take care of their heart and should consult their physicians on regular basis.”

Talking about the clinical excellence at Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Dr Ritu Garg, Zonal Director, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, said, “The team at Fortis Memorial Research Institute put their best efforts to save lives and do not give up even if there is 1% chance of survival. The pandemic has worsened the condition of people suffering from chronic ailments, especially people with heart conditions that required immediate clinical interventions. This 17-year-old girl had never imagined, she will ever get a normal life like other children at her age. This case was managed extremely well with tremendous efficiency, vast experience and expertise of Dr. T S Kler and his team. We are really satisfied that the girl has now got a new life, without any further complications. Being one of the most reputed healthcare providers in the country, we have been able to gain the trust of the families of our patients with our almost 100% success rate in these kinds of complex surgeries. I applaud the team of doctors for their continued commitment towards clinical expertise and patient care.”